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Let this MANTRA* be your Mantra:

MA = Mass Affluent

NT = New Technology

R = Restructuring

A = Aging

Simply put, a mantra is a word or sound you create to calm you down. And who doesn’t need calming down staring down at the fiscal cliff?

Step back from that cliff for a moment and entertain the idea that global markets are expanding, in spite of our myopic view of the world through our fiscal cliff lenses.

The MANTRA idea comes from George Evans, Director, Equities with Oppenheimer Funds. I recently heard him speak, and knew I needed to share his interesting theory with you.

MA: Basic investing involves supply and demand. If you have a product that appeals to an increasingly affluent middle class, where can you find these people? Consider looking in developing markets. Mr. Evans points out “As societies continue to become more affluent, they enjoy a higher standard of living, driving demand of everything from electricity to consumer staples to luxury goods.” This is his definition of Mass Affluent.

NT: One way to gauge the source of new technology is to check with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.As you can imagine, there are more patents now than in the 1970s, and more coming from foreign markets. Recently A T & T (T) announced they are moving away from the technology that supports land phone lines. For an explanation of this technology, checkout a blog onAOL Daily Financewritten by John Grgurich of The Motley Fool. The developing markets have never really known land lines or cables or utility poles. Satellite connections and cell phone towers are their “land lines”. This is an example of adapting a need (communication) to the local environment in light of a lack of infrastructure to support the old way of doing business. In an interesting turn, our appetites for cell phone coverage and dismissing land lines may lead to the extinction of our own land lines for telephones.

R: We witnessed restructuring with deregulation of airlines, phone companies and many more industries. The developing markets have more opportunities to benefit from restructuring whether this comes from government or the implementation of new technology. Tariffs have been a barrier to trade for some developing markets, even large markets such as India. These type of restrictions to trade may lessen as demands for more open borders become necessary to provide products to their growing middle class.

A: In his presentation, Mr. Evans used data from the United Nations to explain that from 1950 to 2050, the global population over age 65 will have tripled**. Consider this population and their needs. In the developing markets people are now living into middle age. This is creating a new market for basic services many of us take for granted: seeing and hearing, let alone drugs that help us love longer. This aging developing market population has the potential to develop into a strong consumer base.

I hope this MANTRA will help you to be a thoughtful investor. If you need some extra calming down, check out my blog on Mantras.